


The Zavala Redemption

by Ariella1941



Series: In The Shadow of Empires [15]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-23 00:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9631469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariella1941/pseuds/Ariella1941
Summary: Zavala Prison, Arcann's secret dumping ground for political prisoners, P.O.W.s, and hostages isn't a secret anymore. The Alliance is about to crack the notorious prison, and inside is someone Aric Jorgan has been looking for.





	1. The Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Unlike most of the other stories in ItSoE, this one is written in third person limited omniscient point of view due to the fact the story’s focus is more on the rescue of Alyce Traynor than Theron and Aryelle’s relationship, thus requires other POVs beyond those two.

“Sasha Terrince?” asked a pleasant woman’s voice.

Terrince looked up from his drink and saw the speaker. She wore a robe, and her head was covered by a hood, but that wasn’t uncommon in this part of the galaxy. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon here in the Pit.

The cantina changed names as often as it changed owners, but the residents of Breaktown simply called it The Pit. It was a place for cheap ale and dirty deals, and Sasha was here for both, though the deal he trying to make today wasn’t as dirty as most.

“Yeah, that’s me,” he replied, looking over at the woman’s companion for a moment then returned his gaze to her. “I said I wanted to talk to someone high up.”

The woman looked at her companion and he shook his head. “You’re asking us to take a big risk on scanty intel,” the man told him, brown eyes hard.

“I have what you’re looking for right here,” Terrince snapped back, touching the small data tape laying next to his drink. “But I want to be sure who I’m dealing with.”

The woman placed a hand on the man’s shoulder for a moment, then lowered her hood. She was an attractive young woman with dark red hair and amber brown eyes, and her face had been plastered all over the Eternal Empire for the past year.

“I’m Commander Aryelle Thrace,” she said quietly as she settled herself in a seat across from him, and she gestured to her companion who came to stand at her right shoulder, “This is Theron Shan.”

Terrince pursed his lips in a silent whistle. This wasn’t what he expected, but they’d given him what he’d asked for. Now to see if they were willing to give him the rest of it.

“You’ve been asking around about Zavala Prison,” he said, “I got what you need, but the question is can you meet my price?”

“Half a million credits and a new identity is damned steep,” Shan said. “Pick one or the other.”

“Both, or I walk,” Terrince said flatly, “Vaylin wasn’t especially forgiving before she became Empress, and I ain’t taking any chances.”

“Quarter million now, the rest once we’ve secured the objective, and we get you somewhere far away from Vaylin,” Shan countered as he finally sat.

“Is there anywhere far away from the Eternal Empire right now?” Sasha said then looked at Thrace, “he speak for you?”

“He’s been doing a good job so far,” she said with a slight smile, “the money really isn’t the problem. We have the quarter million waiting at a safe house for you, but it’s not as if we have an identity slicer on staff. I do know of one who might be willing to take the job. _Might_ being the operative word.”

Sasha watched the Commander for a moment trying to decide if she was telling the truth. Even odds she was, considering she’d taken the risk to come out here herself. A part of him wanted to push her, see if she’d go farther than half a million, especially since she seemed personally interested in the data. But the shame he’d been feeling lately stopped him. All he wanted now was a new start.

“You’re not doing this just for the money,” she said suddenly and he jerked upright.

“You reading my mind?” he hissed.

She shook her head, “No, but your emotions are another matter entirely. I can sense the shame in you, the sickness. Something happened.”

Sasha found that he wanted to talk, and he wondered if Thrace was playing with him.

_No, she’s not playing you. She just reminds you of the Major._

“There was a woman, a prisoner…” he saw the look on their faces and shook his head, “no, nothing like that. The guards are _very_ careful about the staff fraternization with the prisoners. Didn’t want some garbage collector helping somebody escape.” He grimaced and continued, “They brought her in a few years ago, I don’t know. But she’d do things like take punishment meant for other prisoners, share her rations with the sick. She inspired everybody around her to be better, even though they were stuck in a hole, and the guards hated her for it. After the last beating… I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“What took you so long?” Shan asked, voice hard.

“She was the enemy, so at the start I figured she had it coming,” he told the other man, “especially when she stepped in between the guards and some poor slob.”

“She stepped in for you, didn’t she?” Thrace asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “she did, and what happened to her I wouldn’t wish on anyone, especially since the beating _I_ would have gotten wouldn’t have been as bad.”

* * *

 

Theron glanced at Aryelle, not really surprised that the guards were beating their own people. Casual brutality wasn’t unexpected from a prison with Zavala’s reputation. A reputation that had been rumor until Terrince confirmed the prison’s existence.

Zavala was the place where Arcann had put political dissidents and prisoners of war who were too important to kill. He’d also kept any number of hostages against some of his own people’s good behavior, which had made the prison a high priority target for the Alliance. That fact hadn’t changed with Vaylin’s ascension to the throne.

“How’d you get the data and get out?”

“There was a lot of confusion when Vaylin took control, and I knew it was going to get worse,” Terrince admitted, “I had access to the structural plans because of my job in sanitation, so I made a copy and stowed away aboard one of the transports back here.”

“You stowed away aboard an Eternal Fleet ship?” Theron asked incredulously.

“The Fleet isn’t used to move large numbers of prisoners,” Terrince replied, “the transports are crewed by humans. I don’t know why. But when the news of the Battle of Odessen hit there was enough confusion I was able to get aboard one.”

“And the name of the woman who inspired all of this?” Aryelle asked.

“Traynor. Major Alyce Traynor.”

Years of training kept the surprise off Theron’s face, but inside he was exultant. They’d been looking for Traynor for most of the past half year with little luck. Theron had almost resigned himself to the fact they’d been chasing a ghost, but now…

“We’ll get you that new identity, Master Terrince,” Aryelle said, her voice calm, but Theron didn’t need their Force bond to know she shared his excitement. She tapped a quick command into the com unit in her gauntlet and another woman appeared out of the crowd. “This is Lyr, she’ll take you to the safe house. You’ll stay there for a day or two and then we’ll bring you to Odessen. You’ll be safe there until we can get that identity doctor, fair?”

Terrince looked at her for a long moment then nodded. “Deal,” he said as he passed the data tape to Aryelle, who immediately slipped it into a pocket of her inner robe. She folded the hood over her head once more then stood. “It’s been a pleasure, Master Terrince. We’ll see you on Odessen.” She nodded to both Terrince and Lyr, then turned and headed for the cantina exit with Theron in lock step.

“Damn.” He said to Aryelle, “I hate to say it, but…”

“…. The Force was with us?” she replied as she gave him a whimsical smile.

“Something like that,” he grinned then sobered. “If she’s still alive.”

“She is.” Aryelle’s voice was filled with certainty. “We didn’t get this far to lose her now.”

“I should have expected something like this,” he said to her, “you were even more stubborn than usual.”

“Truthfully? I didn’t expect this deal to connect to Colonel Traynor, but I just knew Terrince wouldn’t be willing to negotiate with anyone else, no matter what their position in the Alliance was,” she told him as they headed toward the tram and the rendezvous point.

“I just don’t want you to get used to going on ops like this,” he replied, “I know you feel responsible, and you need to be involved, but we need to save you for the big things.”

She sighed and Theron could tell he’d won the point, but he couldn’t blame her for wanting to be out in the field when he felt the itch himself. And it wasn’t if Aryelle was unable to delegate responsibility; she just felt the need to lead from the front, rather than stay at base, where it was safe…

 _She’s going to give me a heart attack one of these days,_ Theron told himself wryly even as he felt her take his hand.

“I’ll try to behave, I promise,” she said to him, her eyes warm, “unless you don’t want me too.”

“We’ll discuss _that_ when we get home,” he whispered in her ear as she sighed softly. It always amazed him what he could do to this woman with a few words or a touch.

“I’m looking forward to the conversation,” she replied.


	2. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Jorgan find out the Alyce Traynor is alive, the Alliance plans a major prison break, and Koth has a heart to heart with the Commander.

 

Aric Jorgan wasn’t sure what to think. Commander Thrace had requested to speak with him prior to the planning session for the strike on Zavala Prison. Back in Spec Force, if Garza had wanted a meeting like this it’d be bad news, so Jorgan braced himself for the worst.

However, when he entered the Commander’s small office, she was smiling slightly.

“Please come in, Major,” she said, walking around her desk to sit on the edge, “I have some news, but whether it’s good or bad is going to depend on what we find at Zavala Prison.”

Jorgan went ramrod straight and stared at Commander Thrace.

“Alyce is there.”

“According to the contact who gave us the information; yes, she was there as of a few weeks ago,” Commander Thrace said. “But, we don’t know her condition at this time.”

Jorgan felt something he hadn’t in nearly five years: hope.

“As long as she’s breathing, she’ll be okay,” he said, “she’s more stubborn than I am, but why tell me now?”

“How would you feel if you found out after we took Zavala?” Jorgan went to open his mouth and she shook her head. “Don’t give me anything about operational security or some such. Just the truth.”

“You have a point, ma’am,” he conceded, “I’d resent being kept out of the loop.”

“But at the same time, I’ve just handed you extra baggage to carry into the op,” she said, wondering if she should tell him that Theron argued against informing him about Colonel Traynor.

 _Probably not,_ she thought. _I’m not sure if Jorgan would keep him in one piece._

“Op’s not going tomorrow, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll have time to adjust.”

The Commander watched him for a moment then nodded. “Then we’ve got a planning session to attend, Major, so shall we?”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

* * *

 

A tactical hologram of Zavala Prison hung over the main holo table in the Alliance’s war room. A repurposed asteroid mining base, each of Zavala’s cellblocks could be cut out of the main life support network as a last resort against rioting. However, each cellblock also had a backup power generator, which would go active on loss of power from the main hub.

Aryelle’s eyes flickered from that central node to the five solar power collectors which were the base’s weak spot. The satellites were large and fragile targets, and much of Zavala’s defenses depended on the secrecy that shrouded the prison.

“ _Gravestone_ will drop out of hyperspace, and take out the collectors while Theron and Vette jam the prison’s transmissions,” she said, addressing the strike force commanders. “As soon as we’ve confirmed the prison blocks have been knocked back onto local power, Havoc squad will go in and secure the command hub while teams one through five will secure the prison blocks.”

“And if the guards give any resistance,” Torian asked quietly.

“I want to keep bloodshed to a minimum, but that being said, your priorities are both the prisoners’ safety, and your own. Any guard who surrenders will be taken in to custody, but I won’t risk our people, or those we’re trying to save. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, Commander.”

“If there isn’t anything else, we’ll begin running simulations tomorrow at eight Odessen standard, and plan to kick off the op in eleven days.” She looked around then asked, “Any other questions?” The room went quiet and she smiled. “Then let’s not keep you from dinner. Dismissed.”

The war room emptied, except for the usual watch, and as Aryelle made her way to the lift she was joined by Koth.

“You’ve got a minute, Commander?”

“I’ve even got three,” she replied with a smile and Koth smiled back.

“I really am never going to live that down, am I?”

“I’ll stop if you want,” she offered and he shook his head.

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about?”

Aryelle gave him a strange look as they arrive at the cantina, and he gestured to the bar. The place was packed with off duty personnel, but that didn’t seem to both Koth.

“You’ve been treating me with kid gloves since Arcann and Senya got away,” he told her, “and I know why. I also appreciate it, but you’ve proven time and again since then I can trust you.”

She settled down at the bar and looked away from him, “still, I know how much it hurt you…”

“And I’m officer in the Alliance, and I’m an adult,” Koth said, “I should have handled it better, and I should have trusted you, and I’m sorry I couldn’t.”

“Does that mean you trust me now?”

“Damn straight I do, and the fact you picked _Gravestone_ to spearhead this mission is an honor.”

Aryelle laughed, “I just hope your crew feels that way when we start the sims. The Admiral Aygo liked my idea of making things harder in simulation than anything we’d find in the field, and he’s been applying it ruthlessly.”

Koth shrugged, “it’ll be good for them.”

They laughed together then Aryelle’s face became solemn, “Thank you, Koth, for being willing to trust me again. I know it was hard.”

“You earned it a hundred times over in the past year, Commander. I just needed to be reminded of that, so shall we drink to old friends?”

She smiled, “The taste of alcohol makes me queasy, Koth, so I’ll just have some juice. But yes, old friends. Sounds like a fine toast.”


End file.
